September 12th

 On September 12th, 2012 I saw the English rock band Band Of Skulls rock the Starlite Room in Edmonton. Band Of Skulls were touring for their album Sweet Sour.

April 26th

  

 On April 26th, 2010 I saw English rock band Band Of Skulls headline a show at the Starlite Room in Edmonton with opening bands Silver Starling and Saint Motel. Band Of Skulls were on tour for their album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. I have no ticket stub as I had won guest list for this show.

February 3rd

 It was February 3rd, 2013 that I saw Muse with openers Band Of Skulls play Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Throwback Thursday...Band Of Skulls

Some posters from the times I have seen Band Of Skulls in concert.

Band Of Skulls with High Kicks in Edmonton June 1st 2014

On Sunday evening I made my way to the Union Hall venue here in Edmonton to catch the Band Of Skulls and High Kicks double bill. This is a venue I haven't been to since the mid nineties when it was called the Thunderdome. I wasn't sure what to expect of it, as they have just started putting on shows there again in the past year or so. It turned out alright actually, it's not a bad venue.

The first band of the evening was a band called High Kicks from Calgary. I had never heard the band before this show, but can tell you this surely a band I would go see again for sure. They are two piece band with Danny Vacon on bass and Matt Doherty on drums. Danny also has a band called The Dudes, whom I had seen before, I have been a fan of them and have always found Danny's voice to be quite good. The High Kicks play a fuzzed out bass heavy loud type of rock n' roll, lots of energy and some great songs. They opened with the song "Good Life" which was a great way to start the evening, winning the crowd over the right away. Also kudos to drummer matt, whom broke his collar bone just ten days ago, yet was still able to beat the shit out of his drums. If you like High Kicks, chances are you would like the Edmonton band Whitey Houston who are also a two piece bass and drum band, and have been around for many years.

High Kicks at Union Hall.

The headliner of the night was British rockers Band Of Skulls who are touring for their third and newest release "Himalayan", which is another great album. This three piece band rock it out in a 70's kind of way. This was my fourth time seeing the band in concert and again they put on another stellar show. The new tunes fit in with their older songs really good. I find they sound better live then on record, although there is nothing wrong with their records either. Matt, Emma and Russell just seem to be getting tighter and better each time I see them perform.

I wasn't so sure about choice of venue for the show, but have to say it was better then I was expecting, decent sight lines and I found the sound to be real good, even for the opening band. But why is there always a couple of meat heads in the crowd. Like the guy that had to show his buddies the tattoo on his ass, classy buddy classy. All in all a great night of live music. Good times!!!

Band Of Skulls at Union Hall.

Band Of Skulls setlist.

Asleep at the Wheel
Himalayan
You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On
I Know What I Am
I Guess I Know You Fairly Well
Patterns
Brothers and Sisters
Bomb
Toreador
Bruises
Cold Fame
Blood
Hoochie Coochie
I Feel Like Ten Men, Nine Dead and One Dying
The Devil Takes Care of His Own
Hollywood Bowl

Encore:
Sweet Sour
Light of the Morning
Death by Diamonds and Pearls

T-shirt.

Record I picked up at the show.

1 Year Ago Today...September 12th

It was a year ago today that I saw Band Of Skulls play the Starlite Room here in Edmonton.

Muse with Band Of Skulls Live In Edmonton Feb.3rd 2013

So last night my buddy A-Bomb and I went to the double bill of British rockers Muse and Band Of Skulls at Rexall Place here in Edmonton.

This was my third time seeing Band Of Skulls and first and last time seeing Muse. When this show was announced I was really interested in seeing Band Of Skulls play a big venue, as the first two times were at the Starlite Room, a small 800 capacity venue. I wasn't ready to pay 80 dollars to see just the opening band. As for Muse, I know very little about them and have never heard their music before Sunday night. As luck would have it, I managed to get a pair of tickets for the show. I knew I had to take my buddy A-Bomb to this show as he had seen Band Of Skulls the previous two times with me as well, so it was an easy decision.

We got to the show in perfect timing to catch Band Of Skulls hit the stage to a small crowd. probably a couple of reasons for that, it being Super Bowl Sunday and the early 7pm start. Nonetheless, we made it in time to catch their 45 minute set. They opened with the hard hitter "Sweet Sour" from their latest album with the same title that came out last year. My fear of how they would go over on a big stage was put to rest in no time at all. They looked very comftorable on it, as I am sure they have played on bigger and better stages such as outdoor festivals. The three piece band that consists of Emma Richardson on bass and vocals (I still say she looks like a Ramone), Russell Marsden on guitar and vocals and drummer Matt Hayward on drums play a rockin' blues Zeppelin style of rock n' roll. Nothing pretentious about Band Of Skulls unlike Muse. I was very impressed with their set, being a shorter set then I have seen them play before, they left out some of the slower songs and played an all out rocking set. Some of the songs played on this evening were "Hollywood Bowl", and "Death By Diamonds And Pearls", "I Know What I Am" and "Bomb" from their first album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey.

During the show guitarist Russell Marsden said "here is a slower quiet song for you" and then went in to the song "Close To Nowhere" which is anything but slow or quiet. Another newer song from the Sweet Sour album was "Devil Takes Care Of His Own" which was excellent too. What impressed me the most during the show this night was drummer Matt Hayward, he reminded me of Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham in his power and presence on the drums, very cool. By the end of their set the coliseum was starting to fill up more and the fans that were there seemed to really be enjoying Band Of Skulls. They must have won some fans over, because by the time I went to get a t-shirt, the one I wanted were sold out at all the merch booths, shitty deal. All and all, Band Of Skulls kicked ass.

Some live footage I shot at the show.



Pictures of Band Of Skulls I took at the show.

Next up was headliners Muse. Their stage set up was impressive, which I had heard about. By the time Muse came on the place had filled up to a crowd of about 7-8,000 people, would be my guess. The band came on and one of the first things I noticed was the bass players lit up bass frets, looked kind of 80's like and lame. It started alright, they have some good riffs, but then it would get all wanky and lose me. Having not listened to them before, I knew none of the tunes, and can say I have no interest in hearing their albums. If anything, I will say they have an impressive light and laser show, but after about an hour, both A-Bomb and I had heard enough. The fans that were there for Muse were definitely getting in to them though, people dancing,tweaking and singing along. They obviously have a following, but again not my kind of music. My buddy summed it up good "they come off as a self indulgent jerk-off music kind of band". That made me laugh and would have to agree with him.

I wanna give a big shout out to Mick and Pete for lining up the tickets for me. Thank you very much!!! Good times!!!

Pictures Of Muse in Edmonton.

These few pictures were taken from the nose bleeds.

Band Of Skulls Live in Edmonton Sept.12th 2012

On Wedenesday night my buddy A-Bomb want to the Starlite Room here in Edmonton to see Band Of Skulls from England. This was my second time seeing the band play live.

By the time we got to the venue, we had missed most of the opening bands set. What we did see, which was about 20 minutes of their set and it was alright. The band was local artist called The Canyon Rose Outfit. The band was rocking especially the main dude on guitar,keyboards and vocals, he was definitelly the show stealer. They also had a horn player whom I think they could do without. The Canyon Rose Outfit play a southern tinged rock n' roll style of music. All and all a decent opening set.

Next up was the main act Band Of Skulls. They opened their set with the title track from their latest album 'Sweet Sour'. The three piece band rocked from start to finish playing at times a Zeppelin influenced style of rock n' roll. With two albums out they mixed their set good playing songs from both albums, songs such as 'Death By Diamonds And Pearls','The Devil Takes Care Of His Own', 'Light Of The Morning', 'I Know What I Am' as well as 'You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin On' and that's all I recall for songs. After all A-Bomb and I had got int to the beers quite heavy which led us to doing shots of Jack Daniels, not a very good idea on a work night. It sure made for a long day of work on Thursday but it was all worth it in the end.Good times!!!

The show was far from sold out. I would say maybe 300 people at the most. My complaint about this show is that I couldn't find out who the opening band was going to be. The posters around town said with guests, the ticket agency Prime Box Office had nothing on theirweb page about who was opening, neither did the venue's site, or Band Of Skulls site. I even tried e-mailing the Starlite Room the day of the show to ask who was opening, but didn't get a reply back, thats professional,not. If your going to have an opening band it would be nice if you could at least let a person know who the hell it might be.

T-shirt.